Gang Members

Fifteen gang members suspected of everything from drug dealing to murder were rounded up and hauled off to jail Wednesday. The "Jackboyz" gang members now face state racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and a litany of other charges, including attempted murder, home-invasion robbery and battery on a law enforcement officer, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and State Attorney Michael McAuliffe announced Wednesday. The sweep is the latest in an ongoing attempt to round up the county's most violent and pervasive gangs.

Three reputed members of the SUR-13 organized crime gang were sentenced on Tuesday to more than 40 years in prison for racketeering and armed robbery convictions, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. Victor Castillo, 29, got 45 years, Roberto Trejo, 22, was sentenced to 50 years, and Jose Sanchez, 30, got 55 years, according to court records. They were three of 14 suspected street gang members arrested in multi-agency law enforcement sweeps since 2007.

A suspected member of a ruthless criminal gang will be deported - again - after he snuck back into the U.S. and got caught because he posted photos of himself online running pony rides and bounce houses for South Florida kids' parties. Investigators say Dilbert Coreas, 22, of West Palm Beach, is a suspected member of the notorious Central American gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). He was deported to his native El Salvador in November after serving time in state prison for drug-related crimes.

Seventeen arrests were made along the Treasure Coast, and drugs, guns and cash were seized Tuesday as part of a broader initiative by officials in nine counties to see whether gang members and violent felons were complying with conditions of their probation, a release states. Eleven of more than 100 people checked in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties were found to have violated the terms of their probation. An additional six people encountered in the three county area during the sweep also were arrested.

Nine people have been arrested for at least ten burglaries and one suspect remains a fugitive, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office announced Tuesday. Operation Firehouse focused on the Riviera Beach-based Firehouse Gang and Monroe Heights Posse for break-ins around Loxahatchee, Palm Beach County Estates and Jupiter Farms Neighborhoods, investigators said. The burglary ring would target homes between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. when victims were at work or school. One suspect would knock at the front door to see if anyone would answer while a second suspect would break-in through a sliding glass door or window around back and unlock the front door.

Forty-two juvenile and young adult gang members or associates were arrested early Wednesday in a countywide sweep by members of the Broward County Multi-Agency Gang Task Force, deputies said. The sweep netted gang members with felony warrants for crimes including armed robbery, armed sexual battery, burglary and other serious crimes, said sheriff's spokesman George Crolius.

The last of three gang members mistakenly released from jail last month was back behind bars on Tuesday, ending a frantic, monthlong manhunt across Palm Beach County . Riviera Beach police got a tip that Marquis "Scoobie" Roundtree, 18, was staying at Stonybrook Apartments in the 500 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. When police arrived, he was detained without a fight. His brother, James Roundtree, 21, and Tavaris Herndon, 27, were recaptured days after the trio was accidentally released on Aug. 17. They are accused of being members of the Buck Wild gang, and face racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering and other charges.

Town Center mall's annual Halloween party drew as many as 4,000 people Tuesday night - including members of two rival Broward County gangs, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said. A group of gang members was ejected from the mall after playing offensive music loudly in the parking lot, deputies said. With that group gone, deputies were confident they put the lid on any potential gang fight amid thousands of trick-or-treaters, Deputy Carole Raggio said. "They [one group of teens)

LOS ANGELES -- Federal agents arrested more than 160 members of the Los Angeles-based Crips and Bloods street gangs during a two-day nationwide sweep, authorities announced on Friday. In what they dubbed "Operation Streetsweep," agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seized an unspecified amount of drugs, guns and cash. The operation, which involved the use of military airplanes, began early on Thursday, Special Agent Andrew Vita said in Los Angeles. Vita said that arrests were scattered throughout 11 states, including California, Louisiana, Oregon, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Washington.

A suspected gang member is accused of breaking into a Hollywood home and stealing valuables and weapons, police said. Meanwhile, two other suspects in the burglary remain at large. Jorge Burleigh, 19, was charged with armed burglary of a dwelling and larceny in the burglary Saturday afternoon in the 2400 block of Mayo Street. He was arrested early Sunday at his home — about a block from the burglarized residence — and was ordered held without bond during his first-appearance court hearing.

Helvia Almendares told her step-dad she needed money for a court appearance. To get it, deputies said, she would earn herself an actual court date. Police said Almendares, 20, met her 29-year-old step-dad at a Hypoluxo Road Super 8 motel on Aug. 12. She told him she needed a place to stay and money for court the next day. Suddenly, three men burst in, police said. Armed with chains and a bat, they beat the victim. Almendares grabbed her step-dad's wallet and $800. They all fled.

Authorities sentenced a reputed gang member to 15 years in prison with two years probation, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release on Tuesday. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office deputies tracked down Narces Benoit, 37, of West Palm Beach, in February after a Sheriff's Office Gang Unit and SWAT team executed a search warrant at a West Palm Beach home. Authorities say Benoit was found inside with a loaded semi-automatic pistol, cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana.

The prosecution of a Palm Beach County felon accused of four murders in two gang-related shootings got a major boost Wednesday when an appellate court ruled the defendant's confessions are back in play. Jarvis Jackson, 26, had benefited by circuit court orders in December 2011 and February 2012 that tossed incriminating statements Jackson gave to investigators five years ago at a federal detention center. But the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach agreed with state prosecutors that Jackson's July 29, 2008, confessions were given freely and voluntarily and should not be kept out of trials in the two shooting cases.

Military-style assault weapons. A trail of bodies. Illegal drug trade. Street warfare. These were Palm Beach County 's darkest days of gang violence, and it all returned in a courtroom drama Thursday. It took six years for the major gangland murder trial to get underway, but the first two hours showcased what will be a fight for justice. The prosecutor told jurors the case is about a 2007 massacre in a Lake Worth back yard, with AK-47-toting, masked hitmen carrying out revenge killings.

An upcoming trial focusing on a 2007 Lake Worth gangland massacre will highlight the notorious Top 6 clan over the objection of state prosecutors, according to a judge's recent ruling. Selection of a jury is to begin April 11 for the state's case against Charlie Wyne, 28, who is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted first-degree murder. Several of the victims were members of Top 6, a street gang that had a 10-year run of violence and drug dealings from Lake Worth to Boca Raton until police agencies shut it down in 2008, authorities said.

While the Sandy Hook shootings produced soul-searching and hand-wringing in us all, we're proud to recognize two Palm Beach County community groups for trying to turn a far-off tragedy into a close-to-home movement that makes a difference here. Boynton United and the Black Educators Caucus of Palm Beach County are determined to do something about local crime and gun violence. Boynton United this week convened its Safe City II meeting, which brought city leaders, law enforcement officers and school officials together to help residents take advantage of city services that can help deter crime.

A documented member of a street gang has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with a house party shooting that left a popular Delray Beach high school senior dead, police said. Matthew Miles Toresco, 19, of Boynton Beach , was taken into custody by U.S. Marshal's deputies on Wednesday at his father's house in the 2400 block of Waterside Drive in Lake Worth, said Delray Beach police Sgt. Gene Sapino in a news conference Thursday. "Toresco has previous contact with law enforcement to include 10 felony charges with no convictions," Sapino said.